The Streets

Greg KotCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Wrongly pegged as the British answer to Eminem after his 2002 debut, "Original Pirate Material," Mike Skinner (who records under the moniker The Streets) proves that he's got a lot more in common with Kanye West on "A Grand Don't Come for Free." Like West, Skinner describes working-class life with a mixture of humor, exasperation and insight, an Everyman creation to which any listener could relate. "A Grand" traces a few days in the life of a young man adrift in the wasteland between adolescence and adulthood as he juggles mundane tasks: returning a DVD, getting stiffed by a cash machine, calling his mum and misplacing his shoebox full of savings. As with "Original Pirate Material," the beats are almost laughably substandard by North American hip-hop standards, a collection of dime-store backdrops that nonetheless perfectly complement the low-fi, low-life proceedings. Skinner's narrator tries to insulate himself from reality with drugs, drink and gambling, but the brutality of everyday life constantly undercuts his buzz: He loses a shoebox full of savings, breaks up with his girlfriend and out of self-pity and frustration, brawls with a TV repairman. This oddly moving song cycle builds to its final two tracks: the devastating breakup song, "Dry Your Eyes," and "Empty Cans," the redemptive, two-part aftermath.